India Government grants Rs 3,000 relief for drought-hit Bihar farmers

The state cabinet on last Friday cleared the government’s proposal to pay Rs 3,000 immediate assistance to every family in 896 panchayats in 18 districts hit by drought-like conditions, cabinet secretariat department principal secretary Sanjay Kumar said.

Like last year, a survey has begun to identify farmers who are eligible for the agriculture input subsidy (AIS) to be given on October 15, due to the failure of Kharif crop on account of rainfall deficit, he added.

Disaster management department (DMD) principal secretary Pratyay Amrit said the Rs 3,000 monetary assistance to each family would entail an expenditure of around Rs 900 crore, which the government has provided for from the state contingency fund.

He added that only those blocks and panchayats have been selected where the rainfall deficit is more than 30% and the Kharif crop coverage less than 70%.

Not all blocks and panchayats of a selected district have been declared drought-hit. The state has 534 blocks and over 8,000 panchayats. While 13 districts in north Bihar had been hit by floods in July, south Bihar districts were affected by rainfall deficit and consequent drought-like conditions. The 18 drought-hit districts are Patna, Nalanda, Bhojpur, Rohtas, Gaya, Nawada, Aurangabad, Jehanabad, Arwal, Munger, Jamui, Lakhisarai, Sheikhpura, Bhagalpur, Banka, Vaishali, Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga.

Barring Vaishali, Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga, all districts fall in south Bihar. The AMD principal secretary said the Rs 3,000 assistance will not be paid to families who have been given the relief of Rs 6,000 on account of floods in July.

Agriculture secretary N Sarwan Kumar said the payment of agriculture input subsidy to farmers will be made on the basis of rainfall data provided by the Indian Meteorological Department and statistical directorate of the planning and development department, besides the reports regarding crop failure submitted by the DMs concerned. Three factors –crack in soil of the cropped land, wilting of leaves of crop and rainfall shortage – would be taken into account for assessing crop failure.

Kumar also said that in the first phase, eight districts have been identified for new crops as per visible signs of climatic change. The districts are Madhubani, Khagaria, Banka, Bhagalpur, Munger, Nawada, Gaya and Nalanda. The cabinet has cleared Rs 13.9 crore for expenditure on the programme during the current financial year.

The cabinet also gave its sanction to the expenditure to be incurred on meeting maintenance, administrative and furnishing costs at Panchayat Sarkar\Gram Panchayat Bhavans. Cabinet clearance was also given to the release of Rs 67 crore for payment of salaries to teachers under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan.

Besides, sanction was given to the release of Rs 6 crore for the implementation of the national horticulture mission programme. The cabinet also gave its nod to release Rs 77 crore for construction of infrastructural support under “blue revolution” or fish farming.